Lucas was deep in his thoughts, thinking about subduing the Aggressive village, bringing their allies into the fold as it turned up that the Aggressive village was holding them on a short leash, threatening the same fate the Victim village met. Both of these villages surrendered themselves, firmly tying themselves to the authority of Camp Hearth, a fact Lucas confirmed on his settlement submenu. In hindsight, it wasn’t a most prudent decision, seeing that the rest of villages still haven’t pledged themselves fully, although the liberated village leader from the Victim village had all but pledged himself to Lucas, leaving only the formal pledge once he gathered what remained of his people. Lucas was still unclear how exactly System decided to recognize these villages now, but didn’t recognize them before, but that was the matter that went into a long list he had to ask Bruce, firm in his resolve to learn at least basics of politics.

“Still fretting about the village? Relax, mate, this went better than I excepted” Ted said as he approached him, not even trying to keep his voice down.

“No, just thinking about stuff. Do you think I acted to rashly when I accepted the pledge?” Lucas decided to share some of his concerns.

Ted burst into laughter as he heard the question, before noticing the expression on Lucas face and forcefully calming himself.

“Sorry, I just find it funny to hear you ask that now and not when you decide to single – handedly perform a coup back at New Flame” Ted said, still on the verge of laughter “anyways, I’m not the best one to ask this, I let Mags do the thinking” he finished, not helping Lucas in the slightest. He tried looking for Chen, but he noticed he was in conversation with Margaret, so he decided to shelve the subject for now, instead flaring his Perception looking for potential threats, predictably finding nothing proving Maggie was more than capable of performing her role as a scout. From what little information they gathered from villagers back at Aggressive village, after the sudden death of their former village, Strange village went into complete isolation, envoys and scouts sent to find what was happening going missing and never returning to report their findings.

“What do you think happened?” Lucas asked Ted, eager to start some conversation that wasn’t related to his political decision and his position as the settlement owner.

“Who knows, but usually when all contact is lost, it’s usually monsters or beasts” Ted said solemnly, prompting Lucas to flare his Perception once again, just in case.

“So you expect danger?” Lucas asked.

“Danger for us? I would be surprised if that was the case. Danger for these people? Absolutely” Ted responded, Lucas not convinced fully by that statement.

“Mate, you surely realize how powerful we have become” Ted continued, noticing Lucas apprehension “I think things here on Earth that would pose a real threat to us can be counted on one hand, if there is even any” he finished.

“I’m sure more powerful than us have fallen, probably thinking the same” Lucas responded thoughtfully, surprising even himself with that statement.

“Whoa, where did that came from? Are you okay, Lucas?” Ted asked, surprised by that statement.

“Yea, maybe I’m over - reacting a bit. Let’s just finish this so we can be back on our journey, I’m tiring of all this games” Lucas said, content to let the matter rest.

The surroundings were dull and samey ever since they arrived at this cluster of villages, luckily the field around them being open and not providing much in the way of cover, lowering the chance for ambush, but still Lucas had a feeling they will soon meet what have been causing all the missing envoys. And just as he finish his thought, he simultaneously noticed a sudden movement from somewhere to his left and heard Maggie shouting a warning in front of him. Instinctively, he activated “Dodge”, quickly sidestepping to his left just in time to avoid tiny bolts that struck the ground instead his throat.

Lucas watched as the party scrambled to keep their formation, Ted trying to pinpoint the enemy location in a bid to take point. Lucas activated “Sharpsight”, his vision getting the teal filter. Following some violent course changing from mana stream, he managed to spot the attacker, who just fired another one of his skills, hitting Ted’s armor, but luckily not managing to penetrate it. Focusing on it, he managed to identify it.

Ancient Ambusher, Stealth Novice level 57

“What the fuck is happening here?” Lucas thought as he activated “Dodge” once again, somersaulting backwards to avoid some shadowy skill that left a big crater where he stood. The name implied that this was a monster from dungeon and judging by its name, he came from the dungeon that was the center of this village cluster. But monsters weren’t able to leave dungeons, that was a known fact, with the exception from monster of the Scenario dungeons, but the mana streams weren’t rich enough for the presence of Scenario dungeon. That only left a option that the Strange village did something to manipulate the monsters, which also should be impossible.

“We will soon find out anyways?” Lucas thought, before a shout interrupted his line of thoughts.

“They are all around us, six at the very least” Maggie voice was booming as she fired two of her shots into another one of their shadowy attackers, the wet thud indicating she hit something. With her arrows proving as a good marker, Lucas activated “Infused piledriver”, rapidly spinning before managing to connect with the form of one of their attackers, his falchion shredding flesh savagely. Pulling the sword out, Lucas spot a sudden movement, seeing himself spinning once again before hitting the form, downing it, System informing him that it was dead.

“You have assisted in slaying Ancient Ambusher, Stealth Novice level 56”

The fight continued, Lucas dodging small bolts and some shadowy balls of energy over and over again, never clearly managing to lock in on some of the attackers, almost looking like their skills actively forced Lucas to look away, which they probably were doing. Flaring his Agility, Lucas tried to be in constant movement, letting his passive skill build up his speed, looking for an opportune moment to press his attack. Finding one, a form that took a moment too long to aim and launch his skill, Lucas activated “Infused piledriver” once again, slamming into the body of the attacker. He pulled his sword just in time to jump backwards, seeing a arrow coated in blue flying towards the form, Maggie activating her most destructive skill, the one which she used mostly during fights with extremely tough enemies. As the arrow connected, a small boom could be overheard before the form started flying backwards, unable to take the blow from Maggie skill. The System promptly informed Lucas that was enough to kill it, awarding him the assist.

“You have assisted in slaying Ancient Ambusher, Stealth Novice level 57”

“This is taking too long” Lucas lamented, the attackers forcing him to chain a few activation of his “Dodge” in order to avoid a mass of attack, clearly marking Lucas as a priority target. He decided he will try to use that to his advantage, trying to pace himself to stop just for a second before resuming speed, his massive Agility not enough to stop his tendons from flaring in pain from exertion, but bringing result as he heard a loud crack, Ted managing to catch a glimpse of one of the shadowy attackers and immediately charging into it. Chen followed with army of illusions, mostly Lucases and Teds, beating the shadow to death. Watching the show, Lucas slowed down just a second, opening himself to an attack. Spotting the bolts going for his throat, he started rising his hand to cover his throat, but an arrow from Maggie suddenly changed course whizzed past him, slicing the bolts in half and making them lose momentum and fall limply.

“New skill?” he shouted after landing from his somersault, hoping Maggie would hear him.

“Yep, got it after the battle at the vault” she shouted back, her voice full of pride. She activated her skill that allow her to fire two arrows quickly, hitting the shadow that launched his bolts towards Lucas. Now marked, the shadow stood no chance when Lucas activated “Infused piledriver”, connecting with his body, shredding something vital in the process and killing the attacker.

“You have assisted in slaying Ancient Ambusher, Stealth Novice level 56”

The remaining shadows tried to put up a fight, but with losing the advantage in numbers, they started being uncovered just enough for Lucas and his friends to find them and launch the attack, breaking their cover and quickly downing them. After finishing the last of the shadowy attackers, Lucas tried to locate one of the bodies to investigate further, but the corpses looked like they vanished, another evidence to the claim that they come from the dungeon. As on cue, System decided to confirm he was on the right track.

Quest “Countryside tour” updated

The mysterious attackers opened a lot of question, principal one being the evidence to the fact that villagers from the isolated village found some way to manipulate the dungeon monsters itself, the power that would threat even your settlement if wielded irresponsibly.

Hidden awards updated

A quick glance was enough for Lucas to confirm the rest of his party got the same notification and with the grim resolve they continued their march towards the Strange village, intent on figuring out what the hell is happening here.